Remember: Wild Card points are used as the lone criteria in determining the 5A (32 teams) and 4A (16 teams) brackets, though actual seeding may vary.

In 3A, the top seven seeds will come from the conference champion, and the No. 8 seed will be the highest ranked team (based on Wild Card points) that’s not a conference champion. The remaining eight qualifiers will come from Wild Card points, but seeded by a committee. Seeds Nos. 1-7 will also be determined by the committee.

In 2A, the top two teams from each conference automatically qualify (12 of the 16-team field), and the four remaining spots go to non-automatic qualifying teams who rank the highest in the Wild Card points standings. (A committee of administrators will then seed the field.)

5A observations:

Just like this week’s media poll, Columbine jumped up to the second spot, though it was because of Ralston Valley’s loss to Pomona in the Wild Card standings. Ralston Valley fell to sixth; Pomona is now fourth, ahead of Mullen (fifth).

Horizon is seventh, thanks to Highlands Ranch’s loss to Chaparral, and ThunderRidge is eighth after beating Regis Jesuit.

Fairview made a big jump, from a tie for 21st to 17th. The Knights will need to beat Ralston Valley to close the regular season on Thursday if they want to move into the top 16 and host a first-round game. (And, if Fairview does win that game, expect it to move up to the 12-14 range.)

First-round matchup you don’t want if you’re a 5A coach: Regis Jesuit. The Raiders are now 13th, and would play Denver East based on current seeding.

Bubble team that’s in right now and likely there to stay: Fort Collins (No. 30, 4-4). The Lambkins close with Fossil Ridge (1-7).

Bubble team that’s in right now and likely needs a win: Fruita Monument (No. 31, 4-4). The Wildcats have Montrose, an underrated 4A team that’s 7-1.

Bubble team that’s in right now and cursing its schedule: Heritage (No. 32, 3-5). The Eagles started 3-0 — including a win over a solid Cherokee Trail team — but have dropped five in a row, including losses to ThunderRidge, Arapahoe, Columbine and Mullen. Heritage had a chance to seal its playoff spot last week against Chatfield, but stumbled. It has Bear Creek (5-3) this week.

On the outside looking in right now, and in need of an intra-city win to get in: Rocky Mountain (No. 33, 3-5). The Lobos dropped a close game to Mountain Range last week, 23-21, but a win over Fort Collins foe Poudre (2-6) could get them in.

On the outside looking in, and needing to rekindle early-season magic: Douglas County (No. 34, 3-5). The Huskies started 3-1, but are 0-4 since against the meat of their schedule: losses to Highlands Ranch, Regis Jesuit, Chaparral and Mountain Vista. But DC can take last week’s close 18-14 loss to Vista as a good sign heading into a game with a tough ThunderRidge (6-2) squad.

On the outside looking in, and hoping that Arvada West doesn’t win its first game of the season this week: Boulder (No. 35, 3-5). Another team with a fast start that went sour (3-0, 0-5 since) Boulder this week has a winless A-West squad that’s struggled through 2011 despite a big offensive line that includes Nebraska commit Paul Thurston. The losses have not been good to Boulder — the Panthers have been outscored 209-16 since Week 3.

4A observations:

Pine Creek closed the gap between itself and No. 1 Valor Christian — but still trails by more than 5.5 total points. No one is catching Valor for that top seed.

The real intrigue at the top is spots Nos. 3-6, where Castle View, Monarch, Longmont and Broomfield are packed into a space only 1.75 points apart.

Could be a fun game in the final week of the regular season: Cheyenne Mountain (No. 8, 7-1) and Widefield (No. 9, 7-1) meet in a game that may have home field advantage in the first round at stake. But, first, this week Cheyenne Mountain has Mesa Ridge, and Widefield has Pueblo West.

Bubble team, with work left to do: Durango (No. 15, 4-4), who finishes with 5A’s Grand Junction (8-0) and the aforementioned Montrose. Yikes.

On the outside looking in, cursing the schedule — but could also benefit from that schedule: Ponderosa (No. 17, 4-4) has Valor and Castle View (No. 3, 7-1) to end the season. But, even in defeat, those games mean big points, and it could be enough to slide into the final playoff spot, depending on what Durango and Rock Canyon do.

On the outside looking in, likely needing to win out: Prairie View (No. 18, 4-4). The Thunderhawks have Wheat Ridge (No. 10, 6-2) this week, and then close with winless Golden, but a split probably won’t be enough to jump two teams for the final playoff spot.

Other notes:

Kennedy stayed on top of the 3A Wild Card standings, though No. 2 Cañon City inched closer (86.250 to 84.500).

Unbeaten Rifle is sixth in 3A, behind Battle Mountain, Holy Family and Silver Creek. Battle Mountain, you’ll note, is 7-1 — with the lone loss to Rifle. (Rifle’s 2A-heavy schedule — its played three games against 2A teams to Battle Mountain’s one — is keeping it down.) But this is all likely irrelevant, because if Rifle wins out, it’ll take the 3A Western Slope league title, and earn a top-seven seed. Battle Mountain will then likely be the No. 8 seed, as the highest-rated non-league champion.

Neil Devlin, originally from the Philadelphia area, has covered high school sports in Colorado for more than 30 years, writing about the people, athletes and events that encompass the Rocky Mountain prep sports world.